A variety of procedures and apparatuses have been described in the art for separating aerosols. The individual techniques vary substantially depending upon the nature of the aerosol. Filtration, electroseparation, and cyclone separation are just a few of these techniques.
In many of the aerosol separating techniques, and particularly in filtration procedures, the problem arises that the separator becomes less and less effective during the separation phase. This can for instance occur due to the plugging of the filter material with the solids to be removed from the aerosol as well as by the growth of a filter cake of increasing thickness.
Particularly, in the production of carbon black the carbon black containing smoke is passed through filter bags. The filtration capacity for a given bag filter is a function of the particulates' concentration and the nature of the smoke. Specifically, the agglomerate size is a feature that has influence on the filtration capacity of a bag filter.
One solution that has been proposed to increase the separator efficiency employs a fluidized bed of carbon black pellets through which the carbon black containing smoke is passed. Such a unit is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,864,674. Whereas this system is believed to constitute a significant contribution to the art it requires a separate carbon black pellet circulating system. Furthermore, the process is carried out under wet conditions thus requiring the materials confining the fluidized bed of carbon black pellets as well as related equipment to be produced from specific corrosion resistant material.